Burghill Community Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at Burghill Community Academy. Starting in the early years, staff forge great working relationships with pupils.

The school provides high-quality care. Pupils know who to turn to if they have a problem. This helps them feel safe.

The school is at the heart of the local community. Parents and carers value it highly.

There are high expectations for what pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can achieve.

Pupils learn to read quickly and fluently. They become confident, polite and articulate. Across the school, in different subjects, pupils learn well.

The school's values, including ref...lectiveness and resilience, are important to everyone. Leaders expect pupils to meet a high standard of behaviour. Pupils behave well in lessons and at social times, and the school is a happy and purposeful place.

Pupils learn to respect cultures and traditions different to their own. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage.

Visitors and trips out of school contribute well to pupils' learning.

Pupils can take up a good range of responsibilities, such as becoming house captains, school councillors or librarians. They contribute significantly to school decision-making. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, benefit exceptionally well from extra-curricular opportunities.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is a very high priority. Starting in the Nursery, children follow a structured phonics programme. They learn sounds and letters in a logical order.

Staff use the programme's resources systematically. The school makes sure that pupils read frequently to an adult. Staff check on what pupils know and can do.

They track pupils' reading skills in detail. Pupils who find reading more difficult are supported well to keep up with the pace of the phonics programme. Books for younger pupils are carefully matched to their phonics knowledge.

Older pupils learn the different skills that make up reading. Across the school, pupils choose to read in their own time, encouraged by the school's rewards.

Pupils study all the subjects in the national curriculum.

The school has planned the curriculum carefully. In general, pupils in a mixed-age class study the same topic, but teachers make sure that the work is suited to pupils in both year groups. Teachers organise learning in a way that provides pupils with breadth in their work.

For example, pupils engage in a good range of activities in physical education (PE). They learn how historians work, alongside gaining historical knowledge. Learning moves smoothly from one key stage to the next.

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They understand what to teach and when. Teachers make sure that pupils learn and choose the correct vocabulary.

They help pupils, including children in the early years, to discuss and present their ideas verbally. Teachers use facilities and equipment well to support learning, for instance, to help pupils understand mathematical ideas. However, pupils who understand the work quickly are sometimes not given the opportunity to deepen their knowledge.

Staff keep a good check on what pupils have learned. New knowledge builds on pupils' previous work. The school is developing strategies to help pupils to remember this information and link their current learning with what they already know.

In some subjects however, pupils sometimes struggle to make these links and successful recall is more variable.

Staff draw on detailed guidance to ensure that they identify and meet the individual needs of pupils with SEND effectively. As a result, these pupils progress well through the full curriculum.

The school's behaviour policy is clear and effective. Rewards are good motivators so that consequences are rarely needed. Children in the early years follow well-established routines and learn important social skills.

Pupils collaborate well in class and generally present their work with good care. They attend school regularly.

Pupils' personal development is exceptional.

This is a school in which everyone is valued. Pupils follow a planned programme of personal, social and health education that teaches them about healthy relationships and how to stay safe. They have ample opportunity to serve others, both in the school and the community.

Buddies look out for pupils sat on their own and provide someone for their peers to talk to. Pupils benefit from an extensive range of opportunities to develop their talents, including residential visits, an annual trip to see a West End show and diverse sporting opportunities.

The executive headteacher's considered approach is enabling the school to improve rapidly.

He is well supported by the trust, which is embedding new governance arrangements. Staff believe that leaders are considerate of their workload and always ready to listen to their views.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the classroom, pupils who grasp key knowledge quickly are sometimes not given the opportunity to deepen their understanding. As a result, they do not make the very best of the challenging curriculum on offer. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise in how to extend activities so that all pupils make every possible gain in their learning.

• In some foundation subjects, pupils do not remember all the key content in the longer term. Consequently, they do not build up a full and rich knowledge of their subjects.The school should help pupils to commit their learning to their long-term memory so that they have a secure and integral knowledge of their subjects.